Zombtober 2015 Week 3 A day late but hopefully not a dollar short...

Live by the cross.... well he didn't die from one but not for lack of trying. (Sorry Padre) The Padre miniature by Lead Bones.

Bob was an actuary for a life insurance company a statistical annalist. The sheer statistical improbability of a zombie apocalypse broke his mind. Now its Bob and his trusty ginsu knife (guaranteed for a lifetime) against the chaos. (Bob is a Hasselfree figure I started painting back in 2009. I still feel I got him wrong especially the face. I might do him over again some day.)


Astute readers will notice I missed a week of Zombtober I hope to make it up in the beginning of November.

This is a smuggled phone photo of the Lunatic and I using our super high tech ATZ table planning method at his lair. Don't tell anyone.

The Zombie Incident of 1888: The Story

Lascar sailors working on a ship docked in London harbor.

The Zombie Incident of 1888, as many of you readers know, has been a part of this blog for years now. In an attempt to organize what's been swirling around in my head in a semi-organized manner I've started a thread on LAF to try to tell the story of The Zombie Incident of 1888. Please take a look.

I'm going to try to get a few figures polished off today for tomorrow's post.

Zombtober 2015 week 1

This weeks entry is a pair of ecclesiastical zombies for ZI. They have been sitting in the painting queue for well over a year its high time they were finished. The figures are from Lead Bones they are (my names) Sister Mary and Christopher the Alter boy.

Here are some snaps of whats up next modern survivors.

Zombtober 2015

Yes gentle readers its Zomtober! The time for zombie festivities and here at Fiends in Waistcoats that means painting zombies!!!!  I'll be expanding the Victorian Zombie hoard and, if I have time, finish off some characters for ZI. Fist I'm taking stock of the current sat of the horde err small gather pictured above. Now let's look at the figures I have half done that have been laying about in need of attention. If I get half of these finished off it will be a productive month. Here are the zombies awaiting paint.

And The Parcels Start Piling Up

What's a wargamer to do when they don't have time for the hobby and they just got a new job? Why buy miniatures of course! Excuse the hurried photos my next major purchases will have to be proper light and a light box. Pictured above are Burke & Hare from the EOTD Westwind line. I couldn't in all conscious claim to have a Gothic Horror collection with out some grave robbers.

The Tong leader from the EOTD Westwind line.

This fierce looking gal will be Miss Amabelle Stuart formerly an officer of the Confederate States of America now living off her families wealth in London during the Zombie Incident of 1888. This is a KS only EOTD figure from Westwind. I acquired a second one because when I see a figure I think of a character and if the figure needs to be converted to fit my character concept then I will do so but the Lunatic, who is anti conversion, impressed upon me how rare the figure is. Some I will paint on as normal and covert the other.

This will be my second copy of this KS only EOTD figure from Westwind the two figures will become The Silk Stockings twin sister assassins employed by the madames of Whitechapel to deal with wealthy customers who are too rough with the girls. Yes you guested it more characters for the Zombie Incident of 1888.  

With this parcel where the KS only EOTD figures for the 50,000 Hits Contest.

 Zombie Sherlock & Dr. Watson

Red the Werewolf Girl

Tattoo 

Please Note Blog posts will come out EVERY SUNDAY and if possible WEDNESDAY.

Tiger trying not to be photographed knocking the miniatures off the bed and bedeviling me. You can see her rolling off my bit of card here she's fast but the camera caught her anyway.

Light at the End of the Tunnel

 Fishmonger

Yes gentle readers there is light at the end of the tunnel and I expect normal hobby time to resume this weekend or next. I've just began a new 9 to 5  on Monday this job change is the last of the major real life issues disrupting hobby time.

So what's next?
 Zombie Incident of 1888
More Zombie Incident of 1888 astute readers will note some new Zombie Incident of 1888 pages on the blog; ZI protagonists and Zi Endorsements. The endorsements page are comments valued readers have made which have spurred me on with this project. The ZI Protagonists page is a list of characters I've created for the Zombie Incident of 1888. Since I first thought of this project in May 2013 I've thought of so many bit players in this drama that I'm beginning to have trouble keeping them all straight in my head.  This page is a WIP list of these characters it is by no means complete nor do I think it ever will be so long as I'm working on this project. This page will be updated monthly so drop by every now and again as will the original ZI page.

Reaper Bones
I've acquired half a dozen of these plastic figures from Reaper (they are all over the place here in the US) and I will eventually post a guide on how to paint them once I've found the best method.

Star Wars
I've placed a new job celebratory miniatures order of OOP Wizards of the Coast WOTC pre-painted plastic collectible Star Wars figures. 33 will arrive by the end of this week.

Contest  
There will be another contest sometime in September. Last year I decided to hold a giveaway contest once the blog generates 50,000 hits. I expect to reach that point in early Fall. In anticipation of this I have set aside a few KS backers only EOTD figures and I'm looking for some more interesting giveaway prizes. This contest will be a little different (astute readers will note I'm incapable doing things the usual way) only current followers will be eligible, i.e. people who became followers before we hit the 50,000 hits mark. Once the 50,000 hits mark is reached I'll post the prizes and randomly generate the winning numbers so if you want in follow before the 50,000 hits mark. 

Soliders of the Queen WIP

Well this is not Monday, but on Monday gentle readers I brushed aside much needed domestic chores in favor for prepping my Warlord British infantry for The Zombie Incident of 1888. I managed to get some decent light infantry skirmish poses out of the Warlord British Line Infantry plastics. The kneeling poses which are really more indicative of the aftermath period where British troops restored "order" to London. These kneeling skirmishers will figure into "The Battle of Whitechaple", where in the government forcibly disarmed the women of that district. Whom through various means had amassed a considerable supply of firearms during the course of the Incident. I'm not so happy with the major clean-up job I'll have to do to the metal figures that came in the box I hope all this work will pay off in the end.

Sir Christopher Lee R.I.P.

Sir Christopher Lee passed on today ending both an amazing professional career and severed the last leg of my personal triad of Gothic Horror.

 

Sir Christopher Lee's Hammer horror films in combination with both Vincent Price's Poe films

and the Warren Publishing horror comics (see here) created my deep love of Gothic Horror. Now that the last living link to this triad has pasted this particular combination will never inspire another young soul again. But perhaps The Zombie Incident of 1888 will one day corrupt one young impressionable soul in an abiding love of the Gothic Horrors now past.

Speaking of The Zombie Incident of 1888 I realize I have zombies, British troops, the Werewolf of London, the Gentleman from Norwich, The Mysterious Crown Agent Ms. P, Sir Michael and Her Majesty's Rejects awaiting completion. In addition I have these innocent victims to finish the Bicycling Barrister, Proff Prayt, Jim the Milk Lad, Billy the Baker's Boy, Buster the Hound and Sad Tom the Tinker buster's master. I'm working on the stories for two more characters not yet begun Fran the Fireman and Gilbert the Shakespeare Reciting Gorilla. So once Real Life permits gentle readers London of 1888 will get some new denizens.

Mummy goes missing from British Museum!

 

That was the headline of most Sunday London papers one September Sunday in 1888. After the debris of that horrific episode in the life of the world's greatest city it was discovered that one of the British Museum's prized Egyptian mummies was missing. Yes ladies and gentlemen during the height of the zombie incident of 1888 when zombies roamed the Mall an Egyptian mummy disappeared from the British Museum. The puzzled curator never did discover what became of it. Rumors of it walking amongst the dead where of course discounted.

The figure is from the original Horrorclix line and stands 35mm from foot to eye. He is modeled walking in his tippy toes for some reason. He has a sort of crocodile mouth which I played down because its the only part of the figure I don't like. Not bad for 50 cents.

Plasties!

Yes Plasties I know I just made that up by they aren't shinny metal they are pre-painted plastic. I've been trying to hold down the lead mountain, I haven't purchased anything this year, but once I made that decision in the fall my plastic mountain took off! Yes looking back with hind sight that would be the obvious result of not buying more lead.

So back to the figures at hand these are three Horrorclix figures from the Freakshow line each figure cost me less than a dollar American. Based on earlier reader comments I'm going to included the foot to  eye measurements of every figure I include in the blog from now on I hope you find it helpful.

This zombie is 32mm foot to eye which makes him large for my collection of true 28mm figures but I'll be using him anyway I just can't help myself.

This figure, I'm calling him Sad Tom the Tinker, is 30mm foot to eye but he's bent over if he stood straight he would be 32mm.

This figure, I'll call him Fran the Fireman, is 30mm foot to eye and he is one of the best Victorian Zombie Survivor figures I've seen. As you can see he fits in pretty well with these Westwind true 28mm figures.

Progress in Fits & Starts

You might be wondering just what it is your looking at right now, you are looking my home made zombie feasting markers. Yes these markers will denote zombies feasting on human flesh in progress in ATZ viewing such a thing will cause civilian characters to make a Rep test. As you can see they are made from Horrorclix vampire & victim figures on my home made street bases.

I'd also like to welcome three more new readers who are following with Goggle + Rune Heart of the German language blog Game Department, Roy Williamson of the Paint Table Satuday  Google community, I wasn't aware it had become a community, and Pat G. who is a member of the Google community Adventures in the East Mark I couldn't find a blog associated with you Pat (other than your wife's) so if you have on let me know. Welcome dear readers!

Zombtober 2014 The Aftermath

Zombtober 2014 wasn't the push period I had hoped it would be do entirely to Real Life concerns. As the above picture shows the Victorian Horde is of pitiful size, but I began several miniatures in October that I plan to finish of this month.

I've also received my Roadkill order from Johnny Borg I've created a test base for the dead horses.

Well that's it for tonight.

Preperations for Zombtober 2014

With this current employment I'm working every weekend day but despite this I've managed to glue sand & stones to the Werewolf of London's base and coat Jim the Milk Lad in watered down PVA (he's Arifix style plastic). This weekends weather is very mild so I've gotten 7 figures primed 5 zombies and 2 special characters for the Zombie Incident of 1888. I expect to have the Werewolf & Jim primed this week so that will bring my primed figures for Zombtober 2014 up to 8 zombies and 8 survivors/special characters. I also have 3 half painted zombies left over from Zombtober 2013 I know that makes me a lazy git, which bring this years zombie total to 12. This is my goal for Zombtober 2014 19 figures not much compared to many of you guys but realistically the most I'll accomplish this October.

I might try a photographic background for the finished zombie pictures do any of these grab you as a background?

Another Work Table Peak

The elusive Werewolf of London in Hyde Park after a donnybrook with a pack of zombies. Figure by Reaper Miniatures.

Ladies and Gentlemen Your Attention Please.

 Random picture to catch your eye


This past weekend's post the zombie incident of 1888 and its effect on the great Occult War was a quick sketch of a much larger concept boiling over in my mind. It was a stream of consciousness outpouring, I had a busy weekend I had gone to the Lunatic's on Sunday with my new Warlord Brits
& assorted bits to cobble together some more zombies. Unbeknownst to me the Lunatic was in the middle of re-organizing his flat, packing crates were everywhere, the Lunatic produced a copy of Zombicide and proceeded to set it up on a pile of packing crates (I kid you not). He demanded we play so we did. When I got home late that evening I realized that A) I missed my Wednesday post and B) I failed to take any pictures for Sundays post an F followed by a couple of other letters escaped my lips I sat in front of the computer and you know the rest.

 What It Will Be
This project wouldn't be yet another wargaming system but a ready made background for use in your own weird war campaigns. This would be a source book for wargamers to play games set during the Great Occult War or the Zombie Incident of 1888 a gritty dark alternate world history crawling with zombies, elder races and shadowy occult powers covering the late Victorian and Edwardian periods. So this will be a book full of background fluff; maps, historical timelines, descriptions of the nations, races, technical discoveries and pivotal battles which make up the Great Occult War. There will be chapters on zombie outbreaks, how to model the minions of the great occult powers and how to represent the units of the nations of the Great Occult War in several different game systems.

The Problem
If I want to produce this supplement for horror and VSF gamers the world over I can't keep blabbing about it here on blogger for various reasons its not copyright safe.
The Second Problem
As some of you may know I'm in extreme debt since my life threatening accident of last year I am now finally able to walk & work again but I have to devout every waking hour to paying off my debt.
Solutions?
A) We can all forget my last post and you guys can be pleasantly surprised when I produce a finish product several years from now
B) Open a Patreon channel for it. This is my preferred option because if I'm say earning $10 an hour for the hours I work on the project each month I can continue the project while paying towards my debts, as opposed to putting it aside while I focus on pay down the debts. Patreon is preferred because I can return value for money immediately by producing timelines, historical antidotes and short stories in a copyright secure way for the people who donate to the feed. So no grand Kickstarter promises. Admittedly backing a feed like this will end up costing more than a $20 PDF but if a feed like this was undertaken it would be to produce a entertaining Great Occult War gazette publishing far more material than any single PDF could ever hold. 

I have added a poll at the top of the blog please participate let me know if you are interested in backing a project like this.
Please note I'm not giving up this blog I just can't put anymore of that Great Occult War stuff on hear.

The Zombie Incident of 1888 and Its Effect on the Great Occult War.

Brussels Zombie Outbreak 1907

The Zombie Incident of 1888 preceded the Great Occult War by nine years it is considered by some scholars to be the opening salvo of the twelve year long world conflict know as the Great Occult War. The origins of the Great Occult War can be found in the Brussels Zombie Outbreak of 1907. Unlike the Zombie Incident of 1888 the Belgian government was unable to contain the outbreak. 

 

 Anti-Zombie militia Belgium 1907 

France sends troops to Belgium to help the King eradicate the Zombie menace.

 French Cuirassiers departing for Belgium.

The combined French and Belgian force successfully puts down the zombie outbreak a year later. Belgium's beleaguered King accuses Great Britain of engineering the zombie outbreak. By 1908 the great European powers had been engaged, for a number of years, in a jingoistic arms race against each other. Each empire was certain that they will be eventually attacked by another.  The king of Belgium's anguished accusations took root in France's paranoid parliament, had their historical enemy England developed an "Occult' weapon? France mobilized here armies and called up all reservists placing all of Europe on the edge of a knife.

 France Mobilizes

Diplomatic relations between Great Britain and France rapidly deteriorated culminating in the November 16th 1908 declaration of war against Great Britain by France. Not since the days of Nelson have the navies of Great Britain and France clashed so fiercely.

The sinking of the HMS Defiance

 Only the timely intervention of the Kaiser in 1909 on the side of Great Britain saved England from a successful French invasion.

Germany enters the war on the side of Great Britain

 German's intervention sparks a world conflagration in which engulfs all remaining empires in a world wide modern war. Russia and Italy ally with France against Great Britain and Germany, the Austrian-Hungry Empire allies its self with Germany but is mired in a major war with the Ottoman Empire and several Balkan states. By 1910 Europe is carpeted with warring armies.

British troops man assault ships during the Battle of Calais

In 1911 zombie outbreaks begin to appear all over Europe with alarming regularity and without any apparent cause or pattern a situation which continues to the present day.

Major zombie outbreak Warsaw

History books record the first revelations of the Great Occult Powers to have begun at this time*. This war and the emergence of the Great Occult Powers are the catalyst that creates the world in which we live today.  

* Great Britain had entered into it's pact with a Great Occult Power in 1889 over a decade before France or Germany entered into their pacts but this was not know outside of an inner circle of government ministers at the time.